Tag: Amidst Thoughts

Allama Muhammad Iqbal, a doctor of philosophy in Solar Sciences died before his age of death but lived beyond ages through his words of wisdom. Allama Iqbal was influenced by very few scholars of all genre. The scholar who tops the list of Iqbal’s favourite is Maulana Rumi. The second soul fathers of Iqbal were Bayazid Bastami and Syed Hassan Mir scholars of Islam and mysticism. The western names are also popular amongst the influencers of Iqbal such as; Aristotle, Friedrich Nietzsche, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Thomas Walker Armold, Henri Bergson. These names as mentioned are people who either taught or knew Islam in one way or the other. Hence, with their findings and understanding about God, Iqbal was influenced about laws of nature and God running through the universe in forms of soul, non-physical and sense physically. Therefore, this article is aimed to highlight and explain some of the poetic verses from Baal-e-Jibrail which play around soul and sense.

Some of the popular quotes from Iqbal’sinfluences are as below:

“Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.”– Henri Bergson

~ Here Henri claims man to be a man of action-sense while he is a thinking soul; a sense of soul. But in the latter part of the sentence, he warns man to be tactful – sense while he is thinking-soul

One of my favourites from Henri is:

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating one self endlessly.”

Thomas Arnold wrote a book on Al-Dawat-ul-Islami, a great Historian of Islamic art, British Orientalist, taught at Muhammad Anglo-Oriental College.

About Bal-e-Jibreel

Refocusing the article to Bal-e-Jibreel, it is said Iqbal wrote Bal-e-Jibreel, not at one single place. Instead, it was written when he was travelling through Italy, Palestine, France, Spain and Afghanistan. Bal-e-Jibreel consists of ghazals, poems, quatrains, epigrams and intellectual belief of one (mysticism).

The work of Iqbal contains 15 Ghazals addressed to God and 61 Ghazals and 22 Quatrains addressed to Ego (Khudi), Loving, Faith, Knowledge, Intellect and Freedom, all of these variables giving meaning to sense and soul.

The author of the article is inspired to shed light on areas which interest her very being of sense and soul. These certain poetic verses have a magnificent elaboration of sense and Soul. Sense by Iqbal is defined as, “form or physical appearance,” scientifically anything which could be felt from 5 senses. While soul by Iqbal is a magnificent Concept which he, in his lifetime was unable to fully comprehend. The soul is a mystic presence of any physical being. Iqbal in the following verses.

English Translation:

“Will you not be mine? Be NOT mine,but be your Own Right.”

The significance of the soul is found not overtly but covertly. It is not when you look into rather when you reflect upon yourself you find the meaning and sense of soul. When you reflect you either Reinforce or reduce certain attributes which you may find right or wrong respectively. Hence, the soul is the compass of body which sets the direction for a being to decide where to go and choose ways to reach it. Subsequently, when we look back in time, Rene’ Descartes a philosopher and scientists in physics foundation of the 1600s kept a motto of, “I think therefore I am” until he found the meaning of life after 15 years of his work about universe, later he modified the motto and claimed, “ I regard with compassion Therefore I am”. The journey from think to regard with compassion is long and difficult but once an individual reflects upon himself on the journey he finds the true meaning of soul and humanity.

Mann ki duniya! mann ki duniya souz o masti, jazab o shouq

Tann ki duniya! tann
ki duniya sood o soda, maker o fann

English Translation:

“World of soul—the world of fire and ecstasy and longing:

World of sense—the world of gain that fraud and cunning blight; urdu blog.”

Line 1: The universe of soul is non-existent but existential in some mystic form. All that is physical has a soul- a presence which cannot be touched but makes it felt, incomprehensible yet identifiable. The world of soul is covert, deep and inside out, preaching the curiosity, to find out why, how and what makes oneself unite with supreme. With this unison one becomes a craving fire, sometimes the fire becomes blue when it reaches its ultimate form (physical) but that is not its end. The universe of soul is vast and deep so with a new aim the fire is kindled red. This process of liberation is continuous and progressive until the physical form breathes Inna-al-Haq. No physical form can meet the level of the soul’s mysticism in his human architect. Hence, to meet this universe, ones soul is released from body in the experience of parallel universe and returns to the form lightening the human form to a better version. So the longing is the longing of body for the lost soul and soul longs for the ultimate substance which enlightens and awakens its core form. Now the soul reaches the stage of ecstasy where it rejoices the form it has reached. This fire burns ego, hatred, rationale, logic to ashes and liberates the soul to achieve its highest form.

Pragmatically, the world is not linear, it is not a straight line. It is rather a spiral of many straight lines whose one end is the beginning of another. Simultaneously, when a soul is liberated from one shell of energy it is prepared to enter a new shell of experience. And that’s how, in the journey of uncertainty the soul travels with faith, love, knowledge, intellect and freedom. In this journey of soul one is free from the desires of making allies other than its own source which makes him sufficient to face what has to come. “Sufficiency is not having all that you may need, sufficiency is being content in what you have, and using that to reach where you want.”

Treasure of the soul once won is never lost again:

Treasure gold, a shadow—wealth soon comes and soon takes flight.

Line 1: The wealth of covert world is wisdom, faith, love & freedom. When this wealth is achieved it is forever. People can take away worldly gains but no one can take ones knowledge, courage, freedom to think and persistence to make things happen. It is in soul’s power to make impossible happen when it connects to the mystic form of energy. This way its capability of resilience and ability to create is transformed to a higher level, resulting souls to travel like electrons or energy. Just like energy is neither created nor destroyed it only changes its form so is with the soul; the phenomenon makes the life of soul forever and the wealth which it shared with the universe is passed on to thousands of generations. The ownership of money is transferred but the ownership of knowledge isn’t.

Line2: Gold, money they all fade with the demand of time. The value of money is deteriorated with time. There is a fluctuation in the value of gold always. But the universe of the soul has a value which never declines. Einstein rightly said, “Be a man of value not a man of success.” Success is temporary, it comes and goes, the metrics of success change with time but value, value stands upright generations after generations, tested and verified. They only enrich and never depreciate.

Heart, as the religion of heart and soul, is love. It is difficult to divide humanity on beliefs. More than the differences what humans majorly share are similarities. How insane it is to divide human based on their differences instead of uniting them on the basis of how alike they appear. It is the picture of the heart that must reflect human similarities with each other: other than overt differences of cast, colour, creed, ethnicity and religion. All religions teach faith, love, freedom, humanity and brotherhood. It takes compassion and connection of the soul to understand the universe of unity. The congregation of the soul has never learned about divide and rule policy. This world does not believe in ownership of insignificants, it knows everything belongs to one higher form which none has seen. He is the only source, all else are medium. All seek from one all are provided by one. The ultimate energy (God) reads the blueprint of the soul and decides for His people, therefore, he overlooks the actions (physical stimulus) if the intentions (metaphysical stimuli) are pure. His dashboard of energy is struck by the wavelength of the internal world and if the energies of the internal world are greatly positive as a summation, the negative impacts of actions are subtracted. In the end, irrespective of worldly division He unites with all. The senses can be divided but the souls are all alike which unite with the source of energy, the energy only divides with choice of direction towards or away the source.

The sense of the soul is lost if the soul strives to seek
from the sense or soul of the medium (human form) instead of the one who
created it- the source. In this way the soul is trapped by the sense of the
other human being and cannot be liberated. The human being loses the ownership
of his soul and sense with in the process of supplication to human instead of
God.

Nations are born under the heart of true leadership and they die under the brains of screwed leadership. Similarly, a nation was born in 1947 under Quaid-e-Azam’s supervision also a nation is reprised now under the leadership of the to be Prime Minister “Imran Khan Niazi.” Historically, Pakistan met a lot of leaders who claimed justified and sincere leadership towards the nation but surprisingly, nation hung them till death; moreover, susceptible sincerity never paid off to old sincere leaders in a country like Pakistan creating sustainable doubts in my heart for the safety of Imran Khan, as a true voter.
Out of 10 crores, the people who majorly voted for Imran Khan are the youth or the young blood eligible to vote, deafening, threatening and risking at the same time. Imran Khan, undoubtedly, appears to be the hope of generation tomorrow but this generation today is the horrific generation ever. A generation which holds nothing but luck as its morals, a generation which can easily be distracted, a generation which knows nothing about her history, a generation which knows a lot of science, engineering, arts but a little of humanity, humbleness, and integrity. Hence, I am afraid for Imran Khan arresting his responsibility as PM of such a nation and not for this
a generation who is proudly less literate of anything, a nation which can be easily raged, rumored or ruptured by small talks, small weapons or small misunderstandings.
This alone leaves me in a terrible dilemma of, “How will Imran Khan ever lead this NATION to a good end who has never been thoughtful of their homeland and its fellow people”, oh! You must be in rage reading this truth but sardonically refusing it. Why? Because you think you are the ultimate patriot that has done enough for the country as an individual. Seriously? Do you realize how responsible are nations for their own well-being than a PM or President of any state?
How well aware are you about your roles as individuals, citizens, and country representatives?
My questions to all those lovely people who proudly announce their mystic love for the nation. As a student, as a teacher, as an employee, as a community member, and most importantly as a human. We are nothing but religious hypnotics trying to turn everything our way via debate, facts, vision or ideology because we are monarchic by brains who believe in my way or highway.
In a nutshell, can we pledge that whatever comes tomorrow, we will turn out to be the harmless but strengthened, the humble but strong, the honest but nice and the united but sincere nation as a whole? Because New Pakistan is our responsibility and not of PMs alone, we made it, we need
to develop it altogether. We need to be more literate, morally responsible, actful and giving our best of whatever we have.

The mysterious death game “Blue Whale” also called as “Blue Whale Challenge” has become a sensation these days. The game based on alternate reality (mixture of reality & virtual reality). Some people believe these are just fake rumors whereas some believe it to be true. This game isn’t new, it dates back to 2013. It was released in Russia with “F57” a leading social media registered death group of the VKontkate social network. VK is a popular Russian social networking site. There used to be an online pressure group with the name of F57 on VK social network which had depressive, self-harm & suicidal content. Many teenagers joined that group & it kept gaining popularity within such. The 1st case of suicide was reported in 2015 in Russia. Mother of Rina Palenkova – the 17 years old deceased girl wanted to know the reason of her suicide. She started investigating her social media accounts & contacted some professional social media investigation agencies who found out that the girl was an active member of F57 & she shared depressive content on her VK profile via the F57 online community. Rina got to know about the game “Blue Whale” from the same group. She has posted a status saying “goodbye” & her photo on her VK profile before jumping in front of a train.

Rina Palenkova’s last photo before jumping in front of a train.

It was later discovered that more than 130 Russian teenagers committed suicide due to this group & game. This group has been put down now.

Philipp Budeikin, a 22 years old Russian formerly a psychology student is said to be the inventor of this game who had been a victim of child abuse in his childhood. In an interview he said, “There are people & there is biological waste. Those who do not represent any value for society. Who cause or will cause only harm to society. I was cleaning our society of such people. It started in 2013 when I created F57 [online] community. I’d been thinking through this idea for 5 years. It was necessary to distinguish normal people from biological rubbish.” He calls the players of this games as biological waste who is happy to die.

Philipp Budeikin the master mind of the sucidal game “Blue Whale Challenge” in the court.

The game has killed so many teenagers so far. Moreover, this game is not publicly available. The administrators strictly control who can gain access to it. Recent reports suggest that the admins identify their victims & send them the link via social media, which once opened on their phones or computers copies every single data from their devices to the administrator’s & also tracks the victim’s location & activities.

What makes youngsters self-harm & even kill themselves?

The game consists of 50 tasks, .i.e. 50 tasks for 50 days. The tasks in the beginning of the game are easy & interesting. As the levels proceed, the tasks start to become more tough. The administrators of the game provides a new task everyday at 4:20 a.m when the mind is at it’s weakest. The tasks are to be performed on daily basis. A photo or video recording is necessary while doing the given task, since the curators see the photo or video, also they have the access to the player’s phone where they get to see the way those tasks are performed. Once the game is registered, it has to be played & completed. In case, someone denies to perform the given tasks they are sent threat messages by curator. Even the players are told that they’ll kill their parents & family. Therefore the players are forced to play the game even if they want to leave & they end up killing themselves. According to the statistics teenage girls have been effected the most.

The kin dof tasks performed by Blue Whale Challenge players.

According to an international newspaper, Budeikin the ringleader of the Blue Whale game had been jailed in July 2017 in Kresty Jail in Saint Petersburg Russia where he is being held for 3 years for inciting young people to kill themselves.

The dilemma is constant whether imprisonment of the master mind of this suicidal game will actually bring this death game to an end? Or will this continue to spread like wild fire & take lives of more teenagers?

IMPORTANT POINTS FOR ALL:

Similar games like Blue Whale have been created named as, “A Silent House, A Sea of Whales, Wake Me Up at 4:20, Popcorn Carnival.”

Do not click any link(s) sent to you on whatsapp, facebook, twitter or any other social media. Even if the link is sent by a friend.

Parents should keep an eye on their children & their social media accounts & their gadgets & the games they are playing.

If you find anyone playing this game, immediately seek attention to it & report the case.

There is no shame in asking for help. If you feel that you are being attracted to this game or you feel like playing this game, talk to someone about it. You need counselling.

Sucide Prevention Helpline Number for Pakistan created by Sukh Chan Club: 042-35761999

We hear too much & we listen too less but we all know about the labour day. Today it is Labour Day, a day of an economic class which earns hand to mouth to meet their daily expenses. An economic class that earns hardly $2 & is the lower middle class of any economy. But is the celebration of labour day justifying the holiday granted to these people? Or do we have any other alternative? Can we think of what could be done instead? Leaving the answering of these questions unto you, it is very important for us to know what a labour day is, where did it come from & why is it celebrated universally.

The day, 1st of May which we mark as a labour day is basically celebrated in respect of labour strike by labours of Chicago. What was that incident about? The labours of Chicago blasted a dynamite on police against their brutality towards labour class during a strike of Haymarket riot. As a consequence 8 policemen died while 8 random labours were convicted without any proof of charge. Subsequently the news got viral & all of the world’s labour class protested in favour of the rally labours who were striking for their rights. Every year on May 1st the labour continued to strike in remembrance of their community. The day was then declared as a labour day on 1891 by National Congress Party.

The purpose of labour day is to realize the hardwork of labour class & appraise their existence as an integral part of economy. Mamnoon Hussain the Presisent of Pakistan delivers in his address to the Nation news. He says, “This day symbolizes the strength & character of the Pakistani workforce & its devotion & commitment towards making our country a prosperous & progressive nation in the world.” It is very important for all of the classes of any country to recognize the importance of labour class & appreciate their existence as a backbone to economy.

In a nutshell, the labour class of any country is as important as that “kaam wali or maasi or driver” in all the houses without whom the home cannot even think of surviving. This does not make one look lazy or irresponsible rather having a labour working side by side gives a psychological fulfillment. On this labour day instead of uploading big status on social media showing sympathies for labour, let’s thank our maasi, our rackshay wala, our sabzi wala, our pappa ka driver, our maali & all other labour that works for our ease.

I woke up at 7:30 a.m. thinking, this day might be same as other days where I follow my regular routine. But I had no idea that this day was about to be different & I was about to encounter too many questions that I never thought of before.

Anyway following my daily routine, I had my breakfast & left for my university. My best friend Ayesha seemed upset. I asked her the reason for being so low. She told me that her father lost his job & her whole family was upset. His father was a hardworking & honest employee. Lost in the conversation, she asked me “Why Allah (S.W.T) did this to me & my family? We never expected this to happen. Have we done anything wrong?” Looking at the grief in her eyes, I had no words to say. I kept starring in her face & said “Put your faith in Allah (S.W.T). He will give you your answers soon.”

Later that day I was looking for my another friend Uzma, who was my senior. I borrowed a novel to read from her few weeks back. I had to return it to her. I kept looking for her & I could not find her. I decided to go to her friends to inquire about her. I met some of her friends & asked them about her. They said that she left the university as she was unable to pass the exams & she decided not to waste any more money on this. Though she was a bright & studious student but she was unable to understand the business subjects. Listening about Uzma, another question popped up in my mind, “Why Allah (S.W.T) did not help her despite her hard work?” Students who cheated in their exams passed. But the one who never cheated & worked hard, failed. She was capable than many other students of her class. Hearing about Ayesha & then Uzma, made me upset. I could not get them off my mind. I had so many questions in my mind & no one to answer those questions.

Later that day, in the evening, my mom asked me to bring her a glass of water. Lost in my thoughts, I went into the kitchen & switched on the button to turn on the light. The light did not turn on. I waited for like 5 seconds. Then I realized, I pressed the wrong button, that is why the light did not turn on. And suddenly, I felt like I got all the answers to my questions.

Life is a dark room that either brightens up or becomes even more darker as we take decisions about different things happening in our life. When we make wrong choices, we never get fruitful results. No matter how long we wait & pray, but something that is not meant to be ours, never becomes a part of our life & we never fit in. In many cases waiting is worthwhile, but not all the time. After a suitable time of trying & waiting we have to move on & find the button that is meant to brighten up our life. Mistakes are for learning. Wrong choices of past should never stop one from moving on & making the right choices. Once after making the wrong choices one should not stay at the same place in the darkness, in fact move on, searching for light.

It has been 6 months now, Ayesha’s father found a new job which is far better than the last one, with more monetary as well as non-monetary benefits. Uzma is now enrolled in a law university & she is topper of her university. It seems like failure did not stop them from moving on & they found the right buttons.

So the moral is, failure is not the end. Stopping & not trying new things is the real failure. Keep moving on & trying. After sadness there is happiness. Never let failure or your fears stop you!

“SO VERILY, WITH THE HARDSHIP, THERE IS RELIEF!”(Surah Al-Nashrah, Ayat: 6)

I was watching a cricket match in the ground. But today I saw something new. On the corner of the ground I saw 2 kids sitting with a box. I love noticing & observing different things. Noticing these 2 kids from a distance for a while, I decided to go to them.

I went there & asked: “Who are you? I have not seen any of you here, before.”They said: “We are brothers & this is our little shop. We used to keep it in front of the gate of our house but there are not enough sale that is why we thought to come here because of tournament & for the sake of increasing our sales.I asked: “How much you have sold here?”They said: “Not a single rupee yet. No one is coming to buy anything from us.”I asked: “Do you study?”The young brother said: “Yes! I study in grade 2.”The elder brother said: “I do not study, because I keep holding this (little shop) in front of the school.”I asked: “What does your father do? How many brothers you are?The younger one replied: “My father does nothing. He can not even move due to paralysis. We are 4 bothers. 2 of my brothers are younger than me & my elder brothers is here with me, he also works on different shops for the sake of bread winning.”I asked: “How much you sell on daily basis & how much do you earn from it?”He replied: “300 to 500 daily & that earns 50 to 70 rupees.”I asked: “Do you save money?”They said: “Yes, sometimes. Not daily. Hardly 10 to 15 rupees for emergency use.”

After all this conversation, I told to them that I wanted to capture their photo along with their little shop. But they turned their faces the other way.

On the way to my home, I was thinking about them. Their sad eyes & gloomy faces could not get off my mind. I was wondering that how good, responsible & hardworking they are at this age. They work hard to support their family & to fulfill their needs at an age when they should be playing & studying just like other children. While we are so insensitive & careless about such people around us. There were so many people in that ground, but no one even bothered to look at those 2 kids who were waiting for someone to come & buy something from them. We are so much blessed & busy in our lives that we do not even bother to look at people who literally fight hard for little things in life that we are already blessed with. We should be thankful to God for everything we have. We need to take out some time for people who are underprivileged & share their problems & help them. Because happiness increases by giving.

“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more!”– H. Jackson Brown Jr.